Apparel-belt.



W. A. SIMMONS.

APPAREL BELT. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 25, 1911.

Patented Jan. 13, 1914.

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WILLIAM A. SIMMONS, KIRKVJOOID, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO THE SIMMONS OUT-O- SIGHT BELT COMPANY, OF KIRKWOOD, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OF 1VII$SOURL APPAREL-BELT.

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- Patented J an. 13, 1914:.

Application filed September 25, 1911. Serial No. 651,247.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIA A. SIM- MONS, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Kirkwood, St. Louis county, Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparel-Belts, of which the following is a specification containing a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention relates to improvements in apparel belts, and the primary object of my invention is to construct a hip plate provided with means for attachment to a belt and having its body portion constructed of a plurality of leaf springs so that the plate will conform to the anatomy and have sufficient strength to support the weight of apparel trousers over the wearers hip, there being a device carried by the plate for attachment to the trousers.

With the above purposes in view my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, pointed out in the claim and illustrated by the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective of the complete belt, a portion of one of the covers for the hip plate being cut away; Fig. '2 is a perspective of one of my improved hip plates;

Fig. 8 is a transverse, sectional elevation taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. at is a transverse, sectional elevation taken on the line 44 of Fig. 1, a portion of a pair of apparel trousers being shown; Fig. 5 is a perspective of one of my improved hip plates and the flexible cover therefor, with the cover shown in an open position; Fig. 6 is a sectional plan taken through the belt, hip plate and the cover and illustrates the manner in which the integral leaf springs adapt themselves to irregularities in the anatomy or nether garments; and Fig. 7 is a perspective illustrating a portion of apparel trousers with an outside suspender button thereon, and illustrates the manner whereby the hip plate may be secured to an outside button.

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawings: 1 designates an apparel belt which may be of any ordinary construction and which is provided with means such as a buckle 2 for securing it about the wearers waist.

3 designates the body portion of my improved hip plate which is constructed preferably of a single piece of sheet metal and which is slotted at 4 to form a plurality of leaf springs 5, the lower free ends of which are turned outwardly so that the raw edges of the leaves will not project toward the body of the wearer.

The outermost leaves at their upper ends carry integral hooks 6 which are spaced apart from the upper portion of the body of the leaf to form the wedge-shaped openlngs 7 arranged to embrace the belt 1 in such manner that the hook when in place will be wedgedand secured over the belt to prevent longitudinal movements of the hip plate relative the belt, but whichwill allow adjustment lengthwise of the belt by simply raising the hooks relative the belt so they may be moved. The lower free ends of each of the hooks are turned inwardly so that they will not project toward the body of the wearer. The cover, referred to, is preferably constructed of asingle piece of cloth and at each end of which is formed apocket 8, one pocket being arranged to receive the plurality of leaf springs as'shown in Fig. 5, and the other pocket arranged to receive the hooks 6 and the intermediate portion of the cloth between the pockets arranged to embrace and completely cover the upper portion of the hip plate.

The margins of the two pockets are then secured, by stitching or otherwise, so as to form a tunnel between the pockets when folded together, as shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 4:, through which the belt may be passed. In this manner all of the material of the hip plate is protected against, contact with the body of the wearer of the belt, and the go cushion the leaf springs over the wearers In the upper body portion of the hip plate there is a pair of perforations 9 and the material of the cover between the pockets 8 is perforated to coincide with the perforations 9 so that hollow rivet-s 10 may be passed therethrough for the securing of the button-holed tab 11. These tabs are preferably of the flexible variety so that they may be employed on either inside or outside trouser buttons.

A device constructed of the parts as just material of the pockets acts as a padding described in' detail possesses a number of advantages over the apparel belts now known among which are that the belt itself is relieved of the strain of supporting the trousers and hence it may be secured loosely about the waist of the wearer.

Another advantage is due to the construction of the body portion of the hip plateof a number of leaf springs which readily adapt themselves to irregularities upon the supporting surface, the wearers hip or irregularities in net-her garments over which the plates may be supported.

Another distinct advantage is that all of the metallic parts of the hip plate are covered with a fabric covering so that the Wearers clothing is protected from the metallic parts.

I claim:

In combination wit-h a belt, a hip plate constructed of a single piece of material which is slotted vertically to form a plurality of leaf springs which when applied to the body will conform to irregularities of the body, and a flexible element secured to the hip plate and arranged for attachment to a garmentsaid leaf springs having sufiicient rigidity to support the weight of said garment.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

WILLIAM A. SIMMONS.

Witnesses:

ET L. WALLACE, N. G. BUTLER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washihgton, D. C. i 

